Presidential Elections, 1789–2008

For the original method of electing the president and the vice
president (elections of 1789, 1792, 1796, and 1800), seeArticle II, Section 1, of
the Constitution. The election of 1804 was the first one in which the
electors voted for president and vice president on separate ballots.
(See Amendment XII to the
Constitution.)

NOTE: The Constitution specifies that the president and vice
president be chosen through the votes cast by electors chosen by the
states, rather than by a direct popular vote. At first, some electors
were chosen by state legislatures, but by 1836 all states but South
Carolina chose electors through a statewide popular vote. (S.C. followed
suit in 1860.) Today, all states but Maine and Nebraska have a
winner-take-all system in which all of a given state's electors vote for
the winner of that state's popular vote. While not legally significant,
the number of popular votes given nationwide to each major presidential
candidate are listed here for elections beginning in 1872.

1. Only 10 states participated in the
election. The New York legislature chose no electors, and North Carolina
and Rhode Island had not yet ratified the Constitution.

2. As Jefferson and Burr were tied, the
House of Representatives chose the president. In a vote by states, 10
votes were cast for Jefferson, 4 for Burr; 2 votes were not cast.

3. As no candidate had an electoral-vote
majority, the House of Representatives chose the president from the
first three. In a vote by states, 13 votes were cast for Adams, 7 for
Jackson, and 4 for Crawford.

4. The Antimasonic Party on Sept. 26,
1831, was the first party to hold a nominating convention to choose
candidates for president and vice president.

5. As Johnson did not have an
electoral-vote majority, the Senate chose him 33–14 over Granger, the
others being legally out of the race.

6. Harrison died April 4, 1841, and Tyler
succeeded him April 6.

7. Taylor died July 9, 1850, and Fillmore
succeeded him July 10.

8. Also known as the Know-Nothing
Party.

9. Lincoln died April 15, 1865, and
Johnson succeeded him the same day.

10. Name adopted by the Republican
National Convention of 1864. Johnson was a War Democrat.

11. 23 Southern electoral votes were
excluded.

12. Greeley died Nov. 29, 1872, before
his 66 electors voted; 63 of Greeley's votes were scattered among four
of the other candidates.

13. Hayes was chosen by a special
electoral commission since initially neither candidate had the requisite
185 electoral votes.

14. Garfield died Sept. 19, 1881, and
Arthur succeeded him Sept. 20.

15. Members of People's Party were called
Populists.

16. McKinley died Sept. 14, 1901, and
Roosevelt succeeded him the same day.

17. James S. Sherman, Republican
candidate for vice president, died Oct. 30, 1912, and the Republican
electoral votes were cast for Butler.

18. Harding died Aug. 2, 1923, and
Coolidge succeeded him Aug. 3.

19. Roosevelt died April 12, 1945, and
Truman succeeded him the same day.

20. One electoral vote from Alabama was
cast for Walter B. Jones.

21. Kennedy died Nov. 22, 1963, and
Johnson succeeded him the same day.